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ShadowHalo's Top 15 Batman Villains
It should be noted that ShadowHalo has never read the comics, he's basing all of his opinions off of the movies, a couple video games, and foggy memories of whatever Batman shows he's seen. As well as help from wiki. So don't hate on him too much. See Also * The expanded and updated version of ShadowHalo's Top Batman Villains #15: The Penguin Unfortunately, I can't start this off with an interesting enough bang. I honestly don't know much about the Penguin, I barely remember anything about the first two Batman movies, one or two of which he starred in. All I know is that he's a somewhat stylish criminal. One of the business man variety. Also, he resembles a penguin, which is pretty cool, penguins are awesome. And he has pet penguins, which makes me jealous. Aside from being stylish, I actually remember him being pretty ugly in the movie(s). That's just his physical features though, he's short and fat, not much you can do there. What I meant by stylish: he wears a suit and top hat and the like. That's pretty good fashion for an A class criminal. From what I can tell, he's also a man of ingenuity. He's got a bunch of penguin-themed gadgets, and an umbrella that can do all sorts of crap. Most noteworthy functionality is turning into a helicopter, so he can fly. That's all sorts of awesome in its own right, but I want to point out the penguins are flightless birds, yes, but The Penguin can fly. It's like he's mocking the species that he idolizes, what a bastard. At least I think he idolizes penguins, I don't quite know. Reveres them, something. He's gotta have some sorta respect for the animals, otherwise why would he be what he is? Derision? I certainly hope not. #14: Clayface Also known as several different people, apparently. There are different incarnations of him, but I know, and care, most about Basil Carlo. He was the name I read in Arkham Asylum's biography. An actor who played a creature such as Clayface in a movie, or so I'm lead to believe, was driven mad when said movie was remade. Basil was enraged by the choice to cast someone other than himself for the main role of the monster, so he turned to a life of crime. Something happened, I don't know the specifics, and he became Clayface -- and what a coincidence, he's identical to his movie counterpart. I'm under the impression that Clayface has the most distinguished powers of the Batman universe. For one thing, not many of the villains actually have super powers, only a select few. Here we have Clayface, a being that can transform into anyone. Seems like a pretty advanced super power for a universe that barely has any supernatural aspects to begin with. Then again, it seems his gooey body is frequently his downfall as well. Getting washed away by rain, or melting into the ground -- probably not his favorite moments. Though he always manages to survive and return. I'm sure we'd expect no less. I really enjoyed his brief cameo in Arkham Asylum. I didn't even notice him at first. After saving the Warden, I went down the stairs and saw, who? The Warden! He was behind a glass wall. That couldn't be, because I had just left him safely in a locked room. Then the impostor told me that he was the real Quincey Sharp, and I believed him for a split second, I thought I had just saved the wrong Warden. I discovered the truth promptly though, and had a quick laugh. That was an enjoyable moment. With the ability to turn into anyone, I presume Clayface could really be a master of deception. He could potentially give Batman a lot of trouble with such a unique gift (or curse, depending on how it's viewed). Other than his potential though, I don't necessarily have any interest in the character. Intriguing power is the only reason I give him any credit at all. #13: Catwoman, aka Selina Kyle I'm sure I'm gonna get a lot of hate for this, considering Catwoman is one of the most popular villains of all time (or so she seems to be), yet I don't even consider her top tier. Yay for bad opinions. It's not like I hate Catwoman though, quite the contrary. She's an excellent villain, or notorious thief, I should say. She's not even really a villain, she's just out to satisfy her own desires. That normally entails stealing for profit, and Batman just happens to be the one trying to stop her. Unlike pretty much every other villain in the Batman universe, she doesn't hate the Dark Knight, she's actually the main love interest. That's quite befitting, actually. A cat and a bat. Well those specific animals wouldn't make a good couple, but Batman and Catwoman sure do. Selina Kyle is apparently the victim of abuse, which is why she turned to a life of cat crime. I don't know much about her past at all, but I'm to believe that no one really does. She's highly proficient with a whip, which is a very admirable skill. Wielding a whip is no easy task, wielding a whip with expertise is a whole other story. She's sneaky, she's sly, she's acrobatic, she's deadly, and most of all, she's sexy. All great aspects for a villain, just not the kind of villain I usually enjoy the most. #12: Killer Croc, aka Waylon Jones I'll start out by saying he wouldn't even be this high if it weren't for Arkham Asylum. His new design is just terrifying, but in an unbelievably awesome way. The first time he showed up on the elevator, stating that he got Batman's scent, it filled me with eerie anticipation. I knew I'd have to face off against that hulking monster eventually, I just didn't know when or how. The second time he shows up is the first time in the caves, a part that you can actually skip. When you're in the corridor, there's a locked door that if you try opening, Croc shows up on the other side and punches the glass. Like always, my mind jumped to conclusions and I thought he was gonna crash through the door and eat me. That was before remembering that I'm the god damn Batman, so even had that been the case, it probably would've been a bit anti-climactic. Or at least more anti-climactic than the actual ending to the dispute between the Croc and the Bat. Then again, I may be one of the few that actually enjoyed the encounter. At least the first time anyway. Walking on loose wooden planks, floating precariously on the water that Croc inhabits. He could be anywhere in its depths, and the very idea made my skin crawl similar to when I watched Jaws. Of course eventually, you figure out the process and the pattern to Croc, and he's not at all difficult to overcome. It just becomes a tedious task to collect spores while throwing a quick Batarang every time Croc decides to pop up 20 feet away, giving you ample time to prepare. It obviously could have been better, but I still enjoyed it for what it was. As for the actual character, he's badass in the game, yes. From what I've seen of all his other incarnations though, not as cool. A boy that was born with a very rare and unusual disease, he grew up with an alcoholic aunt who always abused him for his appearance. Waylon Jones grew up to be, what else, a criminal. Specializing in brute strength, and the ability to stay under water for very long periods of time, he's been able to cause a lot of trouble. What's more, he drifts farther and farther away from human mentality, and closer to that of a beast. A Killer Croc, human turned animal, and he actually enjoys eating his victims as well. That's just wicked. Overall he's a cool villain, one of the few that were elevated to higher levels from the recent game. #11: Mr Zsasz, aka Victor Zsasz Another villain I have little knowledge of. Even less than The Penguin's. I actually didn't even know about him until I played Arkham Asylum, which was when I started paying attention to him. Not at first, of course, because they downplayed him in the game to just what seemed like a lowly, on edge henchmen, who of which was frightened by Batman and resorted to cheap hostage tactics to prevent his inevitable capture. Once I started reading up on him though, I realized that Mr. Zsasz is, in fact, a pretty prominent criminal. He's a straight up serial killer, murdering for fun, and carving a tally mark into his body for every new victim. It's hard to notice the tally marks on him in Arkham Asylum at first, but they're definitely there. And reading up on his story about why he kills for fun, I was actually quite intrigued by his character. I'm sure you all know this already, but I'm reiterating it anyway. He was about to commit suicide after realizing his life was meaningless and felt there was no longer any reason to live. Before taking the plunge, a homeless guy tries to mug him, Zsasz counters, takes the knife away from the bum, and then continues to stab the guy to death, proclaiming his new "purpose" in life: Liberating people from their pointless lives. It's quite meaningful in its own right. In fact, I can actually relate to Mr. Zsasz. I've never killed anyone, no, and I don't ever intend to. I can understand why he thinks he's freeing people though, since death does seem to be our only redemption in life. I was surprised of the information that he was actually in Batman Begins. Never knew that until just now, after reading it on his wiki page. At first I thought he didn’t have any tally marks, but apparently he does, so all is well. It would just be atrocious if he didn’t, especially considering that's his identity. Without those tally marks, he's just another serial killer -- albeit one with a profound motivation. #10: Ra's al Ghul When I first saw Batman Begins, I had absolutely no idea that this guy was an actual villain from the comics. I had no prior knowledge to him before the movie, so I naturally suspected that he was a made up bad guy. Which in turn led to believe that there was only one actual villain in Batman Begins. I'm happy to know that isn't true now, and in fact, there are several characters from the comics in the movie. Rachel isn't one of them, like I thought she was... That was a while ago though, I've since been enlightened and am no longer as ignorant about the Batman universe as I once was. Ra's al Ghul is a very interesting character. He's technically a villain, but you could also view him as a hero of sorts. First of all, he's immortal, thanks to his Lazarus Pits. As a result, he's lived for several centuries. Which has provided him with ample time to perfect his skills and obtain new ones. In the movie, those skills were passed on to Bruce Wayne, who later became Batman, Ra's al Ghul's most worthy adversary. He's considered an international terrorist, but the reason I say Ra's al Ghul could be a hero is because he's purging the world of cities and humans that could be harmful to society. In a sense, he's actually saving the world. Quite similar to the exceptionally brilliant Adrian Veidt, from Watchmen, who turned out to be the antagonist, some would say a criminal. I, on the other hand, choose to view him as a hero of sorts, a very immoral hero, yes, but a hero nonetheless. That's the sort of level that Ra's al Ghul is aiming for, I suppose. He's immortal, he has a huge sect of assassins under his command, and he's got a drive to rival that of Adrian Veidt. I can relate to his desires to make the world a better place, it certainly is a noble goal. Just not one he carries through as preferably as some would want. #9: Poison Ivy, aka Pamela Isley Another one of the few super powered villains, Poison Ivy easily has the most prominent, deadly, and overall interesting of abilities: she can control plants. As a result of a failed murder attempt, Pamela Isley found herself with these unnatural powers. Completely immune to any natural disease or toxins, and with the power to control plant life, Poison Ivy became a prime candidate for most dangerous criminal. What's more, she's got seduction on her side, a charm that any man would find hard to turn away from, which ultimately leads to their demise. Batman of course is among the only ones who can resist her, because we all know that a badass is immune to exploitation, even the sexy kind. She's definitely more attractive than Catwoman, at least to me. There's just something about the abnormal green eyes and hair, or maybe it's just the way she chooses to outfit herself, completely in plants. Whatever it is, she's definitely hot, it's likely that I would unfortunately hook myself on her lure just like every other normal guy does. Her personality quirk, if that's what you choose to call it, that of which makes her a villain, is the desire to annihilate every human being in order to build a world dominated by plants. She's got a huge soft spot for them, idealizing their existence over people. She still cares for some sort of life though, which is saying something. Considering that most who conduct in murder only do it for fun or liberation. She's just adamant about giving the world better inhabitants. Nothing wrong with that. Well maybe a little. #8: Deadshot I had absolutely no prior knowledge to this guy, the only reason I know of his existence is because I read about him on wikipedia. It's possible I may have seen him in Gotham Knight and Justice League when I watched each one respectively, but I don't remember Deadshot at all. Likewise, I can't really say much about him, and I'm sure I'm just way out of line placing a villain that I don't know this high up in the list. You know what though? Suck it, he's here, because from what I've read about him, he deserves such a placement. He's badass, that pretty much sums him up. I can still go a little more in depth though. I love assassins, especially those of the sniper variety. Deadshot falls into such a category, and he steps it up by being the best assassin in the whole DC universe. Quite a feat, to be sure. Such an excellent achievement is considerably worthy of my attention. Besides that though, one of his most unique traits is his desire to have a fantastic death. I don't know what he would considers to be preferable when it comes to dying, but it's certainly an interesting goal. At least to me, because once again, here's a villain I can relate to. I as well would enjoy going out with a bang, who wouldn't? People will speak of your death even long after you're gone, it's quite an accomplishment, one that's definitely worth pursuing. The thing about Deadshot though, he's ready to die at any time, as he doesn't feel he has a reason to live. He tried to assassinate his deadbeat father, but slipped up, and as a result, killed his older brother that he idolized. From then on he's been completely detached from life. I understand that feeling, it isn't fun. He's the best assassin in the universe, he's got a glorious death wish, and he is a cold hard badass. Quality villain, nay, character in my book. #7: Harley Quinn, aka Harleen Quinzel I really enjoy Harley Quinn. She's got the same sadistically fun personality that the Joker has, only somewhat less lewd. She's Joker's "girlfriend" though, which easily explains why she's the way she is. No one would love her if she wasn't though. She's more attractive than Ivy, which is saying something. Her character traits probably have something to do with me loving her too, because I very much enjoy fun and playful girls. Especially the perverse ones, I like 'em naughty. Then again, who doesn't? Harley Quinn first appeared in the animated series, which is quite impressive, because she then acquired her permanent role in the comics after achieving so much popularity. Quite a feat, indeed. She's a great character, definitely deserving of her fame and fortune. She adds another sort of quality to the Joker as well, whenever she's around him, their interactions and chemistry are always amusing. It's nice to see ruthless criminals have a caring side once in a while, however rare and limited it may be. #6: Bane I'll be honest, the first time I saw Bane was in the movie Batman and Robin. Which means I got the absolute worst initial experience with him, and without even knowing it. From what I knew, Bane was just a big dumb brute, and oh is that the most inaccurate description of him. He's actually quite intelligent, not to mention incredibly patient. It's thanks to that impeccable patience that he eventually managed to do something no other villain could do: He broke the bat. I'm sure it's unnecessary for me to go into detail, but just in case I'll at least explain that Bane actually crushed Batman's spine. I was to understand that Batman could no longer continue his vigilante lifestyle as a result to the injury, but in Arkham Asylum he's apparently healed, and he even referenced the prior confrontation with Bane with his "this time, I break you" line. Which was damn awesome. Bane is indeed a hulking brute though, only while utilizing the venom within the tank strapped to his back. Otherwise he's just a short, skinny man. I think it's safe to presume that Bane has the greatest raw strength in the Batman universe, Killer Croc probably can't even compare, even counting his recent enhanced appearance. All in all, Bane is smart, patient, and has massive muscle, and he makes one hell of a villain. Plus he's got the badass factor going on for him, which earns a few good points in my book. #5: Mr. Freeze, aka Victor Fries Arnold Schwarzenegger guys, come on. He was the only good part of that movie, because any character played by Arnold is definitely top tier. Even if we disregard his fourth movie role, Mr. Freeze is still an astonishing character and villain. Complete with a tragic past, he's the prime example of how grief and vengeance can shift a person from good to evil. Once an aspiring scientist, his wife died, and following that, he had an accident that rendered him incapable of surviving in room temperature. Instead, his body needs to be subject to constant freezing. Motivated to revive his fallen wife, he turns to a life of crime in order to secure the means he feels necessary to complete his emotional task. Mr. Freeze is one of those characters that you can feel for, he's undergone a few unfortunate events, and he just wants things to go back to the way they were. Anyone can relate to that. While he executes his ambitions in the wrong way, you still somehow want him to succeed in bringing back his love. Unfortunately, the universe rarely has happy endings, and he doesn't pull through. Quite understandable why he's a permanent villain, he's got nothing to lose anymore, he might as well share his misery, it does love company. Another couple things to mention, Mr. Freeze is one of the genius variety of villains, therefore he's got several interesting and complex weapons, most (if not all) are ice-based. That of which allow him to instantly freeze his targets, very intimidating. He also designed his own unique suit, in order to always remain freezing cold, so that he can even go out and terrorize the streets of Gotham. All in the name of misery. #4: Two-Face, aka Harvey Dent One of the best examples of a hero turned villain is Harvey Dent. What used to be Gotham's White Knight, the contrast to Batman, the hero that the city needed, met an unfortunate fate that left his face horribly scarred and deformed. In the movie, he had suffered dreadful burns that gave him his trademark look. And then he had to handle the news of his lost love, it wasn't a good day for him, that's for sure. To add on to his immense burdens, the Joker paid him a visit. Grief, an urge for vengeance, and the trigger to set him off, all in the span of a few hours, turned a great man, a hero, into a depressed and angry villain. His story is different in the comics, apparently the incident was caused by random thugs, or something to that extent. In either case, the end result was Two-Face. One of the most complex villains you'll ever know. He's unable to discern from right and wrong, losing all sense of morals after his "accident", so instead, whenever he has a choice to make, he leaves it up to chance. By flipping his famous coin, heads or tails to decide one's fate. This of course means that Two-Face isn't always committing crimes, sometimes the coin flip results in a positive outcome. Harvey Dent faced a traumatic experience, somewhat like Victor Fries, both of whom became criminals as a result, compelled by grief and vengeance. The key differences are how they carry out their crime sprees. Mr. Freeze wants to share his misery, while Two-Face wants justice, however twisted his methods may be. It's easy to relate to both, but Two-Face at least has some more preferable results. One last aspect of Two-Face to add is his appearance. It's downright creepy at times, and he accents his disfigured face with a specially designed suit that's stylish and clean on one side, then freakish and messy on the other. He's got a magnificent look, indeed. #3: The Riddler, aka Edward Nigma He actually has a few different aka's, but for the sake of keeping the title short we're leaving it at that. I also don't know all of his aliases, or even what his real name is, because I don't feel like looking it up. I also don't care. Well here he is anyway, The Riddler, I'm well aware that my top five have been rather predictable so far, well guess what! It doesn't get any less predictable, sorry. I'm a big Batman fan with only average exposure to the universe. What can you expect? Anyway, no matter what you guys say, The Riddler deserves such a high spot. Come on now, he's the Riddler. His intelligence and charisma rivals that of Batman himself, he's incredibly narcissistic, which I can relate to, because I'm awesome. As is the Riddler, he's awesome, anyone played by Jim Carey deserves immense credit. I know those movies weren't the best, but we all have to admit that Jim Carey played a good role, and had one of the best portrayals of any Batman villain. Obviously not as good as another certain actor, but we'll get to that later. Obviously my only experience with The Riddler stems from Batman Forever and Arkham Asylum -- where he didn't actually appear in, just challenged and taunted you vocally. But those riddles he left all around the island were fun to collect, and left me with a nice sense of accomplishment when I discovered all his secrets. Especially since I aided Batman in once again succeeding to best his smartest enemy. That'll teach him to not mess with the best detective in the world. Well not really, he'll strike back, just like every other villain who never learn their lesson. The extent of the love he has for himself knows no bounds, The Riddler knows he's great, and he wants people to know when that greatness is acting. By leaving clues behind after committing a crime. This is where his motivations surface, by challenging those worthy of life. If you're smart and able to deduce the clues and riddles, you survive, if not... then you're not so lucky. The Riddler's goal is ultimately to purge the world of all the idiots, which to be honest, I think is a goal worth pursuing. There's too much stupidity in the world, it deserves to be cleansed away. In that sense, The Riddler is making the world a better place. Or trying to anyway. It's unfortunate he'll never prevail, the world lives to see another day full of morons and senselessness. #2: The Joker Potential to be the number one villain of all time. And where is he on my list? Yeah, that's right, take another look, I put the Joker at number two. The Joker, the most unique of all Batman villains. Am I crazy or what? Well sure, but not as crazy as this guy here. This villain who has what it takes to be everyone's favorite, and yet is stuck as only my second favorite. It happens. Get over it. Instead of trying to justify this placement, I'm just going to move on and talk about the S class quality we got going on here. What makes a good villain, let's start a checklist. Here's the Joker for you... -Crazy and insane. Both technically the same word, but the Joker takes it to the highest of levels, the peak that no other villain has ever achieved. There's no one word to describe it, hence me using two variations of the same word. -No true goals. He steals, he kills, he plans, he blows **** up. What's it all for? Why does he choose to act the way he does? No one knows. Hell, he himself doesn't even know. He's so screwed up in the head, that he doesn't even understand himself. He just does things. -Troubled past. No, wait, that's wrong, he doesn't HAVE a past. That's just as good. Or bad. Whatever. -Creepy looks. His appearance varies, but usually he looks hideous, menacing, just downright scary. Yet he's always smiling! It's not a friendly smile though, no. It's the kind of smile where, if you saw it, it'd be the last thing you see. Probably. -EVIL. LAUGH. Yes, he's got the evil laugh. Many villains attempt it, some don't even bother, but the Joker, oh man, does he nail it. He could contend for all time greatest evil laughs, and he'd most likely win. -Heath Ledger. I don't want to bother explaining, since I don't feel I need to. He's got everything anyone needs to be a perfect villain, and yet he does it to an extent that not even the most evil bastard would ever dream of. He feels no sympathy for any one or thing, as such he would not hesitate in the slightest before stabbing a guy in the face. Overall he's just into all the commotion just to be in it. He tries to expose Gotham's true colors, he attempts to reveal Batman's secret identity, he'll form some elaborate plan just to get a few bucks. He doesn't care. He does what he wants, when he wants, where he wants, how he wants, no exceptions. Not a soul will interfere with him, even Batman has his fair share of difficulties when it comes to the Joker. God damn is he a great villain. There simply isn't enough words, at least not in my vocabulary. He's just everything you need in a villain. And yet, there's still one more villain who I just can't help but like just a little bit more. Not much more, mind you, just a little. Enough to tip him over the edge to number one. And HERE HE COMES... #1: The Scarecrow, aka Jonathan Crane There is no surprise here, no unexpected turn of events, just the Scarecrow. I told you I would get no less predictable. Before I go in depth, let me mention the sole aspect of this villain that tipped the scale in his favor over the Joker: Fear. Joker is amazing, he can do pretty much anything that a villain is capable of doing, he can even be scary. Not as much as Scarecrow though, and that's why I've decided to play him at number 1, because he's the embodiment of fear, which is my favorite of all emotional states. Let me explain. When I was a kid, I was the most paranoid little tyke around. I was afraid of everything, whether rational or not (mostly not). Monsters under my bed, the dark, thunderstorms, spiders, etc. Name a fear that you had as a child, I probably dealt with it as well. Since I spent my childhood being afraid, I eventually learned to face my fears and got over all the irrational ones first, then I moved on to those that were more understandable. Eventually the only real fear I had left was of death. It took me the longest to overcome, but I finally did, and presently I fear virtually nothing. That leads me to my point, I love the idea of fear, I'm mesmerized by it, much like Dr. Jonathan Crane was, which led him to become a psychopathic villain bent on exposing the world to it's deepest and darkest fears. I will not deny that his role in Arkham Asylum contributed heavily to my favoring of him. His performance was just spectacular, and I couldn't get enough of him. With his mind games, chilling voice, and even his appearance, not to mention his distorted spin on reality that throws you into some eerie locations where you have to avoid his gaze. I sometimes fail those sections of the game on purpose just to see his death taunt and hear his quotes, also very well done. By now it should be obvious that I enjoy villains with which I can relate to. Scarecrow easily fits such a description. If I were to become a villain, surprise, I would be an imitation of the Scarecrow. In fact, if he was a real person, I would try my absolute best of convincing him to make me his sidekick. He might have a use for one. If not, I would at least dedicate my life to serving him in any way possible, whether he wanted it or not. He's got a valid point as well, fear motivates our everyday lives. We get a job because we fear being poor, we go to the doctor because we're afraid of getting sick, we fall in love because we're scared of ending up alone. Batman implores fear in his vigilante heroics, it's one of his greatest weapons. Then here we have Scarecrow, the only person that can match the Bat's terror, even defeat it. Not always, of course, Batman's willpower pulls through for him and beats Scarecrow at his own game. Naturally. Scarecrow is still a major threat though, no one else can cause the greatest detective in the world to suffer illusions filled with what he secretly fears the most. Time to wrap this up, Scarecrow is not only my favorite Batman villain, but he also contends for number one out of all villains in various forms of media. I don't know exactly who is my favorite out of the few that are currently tied, but he's certainly a worthy competitor. I spent a good portion of my life in fear, now that I've overcome all those obstacles, I wish I could invoke fear in others as well as the Scarecrow. Oh how fantastic that would be. Category:User Projects